title: Diagnostic accuracy of K-ras mutation for pancreatic carcinoma: a meta-analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The conventional tests for the diagnosis of early stage pancreatic carcinoma are not acceptable. This meta-analysis is to evaluate the accuracy of K-ras mutation for the diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  A systemic search of all relevant literature was performed in Web of Science, EMBASE, Cochrane Database, and MEDLINE (PubMed as the search engine) prior to June 1, 2011. Thirty-four studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria and data were pooled for analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The pooled estimates for K-ras mutation in diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma were as follows: sensitivity 0.68 (95% CI: 0.66-0.71), specificity 0.87 (95% CI: 0.85-0.88), positive likelihood ratio 4.54 (95% CI: 3.47-5.94), negative likelihood ratio 0.37 (95% CI: 0.30-0.44) and diagnostic odds ratio 14.90 (95% CI: 10.02-22.15). Summary receiver operating characteristic analysis demonstrated that the maximum joint sensitivity and specificity was 0.79, and the overall area under the curve was 0.86.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Diagnostic accuracy of K-ras mutation was not superior to that of conventional tests. Therefore, K-ras mutation analysis alone is not recommended for the diagnosis of pancreatic carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery,Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100730, China. zhaoyp8028@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Shang-Long
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Ge
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yu-Pei
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Wen-Ming
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Tai-Ping
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D019540:Area Under Curve; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005820:Genetic Testing / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D009154:Mutation; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D010641:Phenotype; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras); D012372:ROC Curve; D012044:Regression Analysis; D018631:ras Proteins / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C117307:KRAS protein, human; D011518:Proto-Oncogene Proteins; D016283:Proto-Oncogene Proteins p21(ras); D018631:ras Proteins